Chapter 65: Chapter 65 Field Boss (1)

Field Boss (1)

Field Boss (1)

I slept soundly for a whopping 12 hours.

And when I woke up…

For some reason, Misha was sleeping on my stomach, drooling, just like before.

“…….”

Anyway, since there’s still some time left, I organize the loot.

I check what’s in the backpacks and strip the remaining three of their equipment.

And I put everything into the expandable backpack.

It’s a good thing Misha also has an expandable backpack.

I stuffed so much equipment in that it’s quite heavy even with the weight reduction enchantment.

‘Is this enough compensation for all the hardships we went through?’

I ignore Misha, who is still asleep, and take out some jerky to chew on.

Well, she’ll eat when she wakes up and gets hungry.

Whooooosh!

After finishing my meal, I dampen a cloth with water and give myself a quick wash.

Ah, I also shaved for the first time in a while.

‘Now I look somewhat human.’

After burning all the remaining firewood in the fireplace, there’s nothing left to do.

So I go outside and sit in the rocking chair.

A faint smell of blood lingers in the peaceful meadow.

As I’m lost in thought, basking in the sunlight, my eyes slowly close.

The religious fanatic whose head I smashed while he was sleeping briefly comes to mind, but…

‘The entrance would have closed by now, so I don’t have to worry about that.’

It’s peaceful.

At least I’m safe as long as I’m here.

Yeah, that’s enough.

“Bjorn, wake up. You need to eat something after sleeping, or you’ll get an upset stomach!”

When I open my eyes, Misha is shaking my shoulder.

I check the watch, and 14 hours have passed since I last checked.

“Here, eat this even if you don’t have an appetite, quickly!”

Misha tears off some jerky and bread and feeds me.

Although I woke up in the middle and ate, I’m hungry again, so I accept it readily.

“Are you going to sleep more?”

“No.”

“Hmm, I see. Ah, right! But how did you know that we could stay here longer if we put people in?”

“I read it in a book.”

“…Do you like smart women?”

“I do.”

I answer her questions roughly while finishing my meal and then check the fireplace.

Judging by the fire’s strength, it seems like there’s less than an hour left…

Click.

I close my watch and carefully store it in my pocket.

And I stretch my body that has been asleep for a long time, preparing to leave.

Although it’s too early to celebrate, my chest swells with emotion.

‘This day has finally come.’

Day 15 is about to begin.

In other words, if we can just endure today, we can escape this damn forest and return to the city.

So…

「The Witch’s Cabin is closed.」

「Character is being transported to the Witch’s Forest.」

Let’s focus until the very end.

As always.

“Bjo, Bjorn! What the hell is this?!”

“Damn it…”

It’s not over until it’s over.

_______________________________________

「The fifth offering has been made to the cabin.」

「The sixth offering has been made to the cabin.」

「The seventh offering has been made to the ca… 」

「Special conditions met – seven offerings.」

「Lord of Chaos Riakis begins to roam the floor.」

_______________________________________

The moment we step out of the cabin…

The change in the forest is felt through every sense in my body.

「Field effect – Witch’s Forest is deactivated.」

I can see clearly.

The auditory and visual hallucinations are gone.

And the surroundings are so bright that I can see far into the distance even without a torch.

“Bjo, Bjorn…?”

The ceiling emits an ominous red light.

And the incorporeal monsters that were everywhere in the forest have all disappeared.

“…….”

The silence that greets us for the first time since entering the Witch’s Forest.

I bend down and touch the ground.

Drrdrd.

I feel a faint tremor through my fingertips.

Therefore, there’s no need to confirm any further or try to deny the current situation.

I know the cause of this phenomenon.

“…It’s a Floor Master.”

Floor Master.

It’s a monster that acts as a field boss.

In the game, it was referred to as a Floor Master, and each floor had one ruler with a different title.

For reference, except for a few floors, most of them were summoned when a trigger was activated, but…

“Fl, Floor Master? Do, don’t joke around. I heard there are no Floor Masters on the 3rd floor!!”

“It’s not that there aren’t any. It’s just that the summoning method is kept secret.”

In the case of the 1st-floor Crystal Cave…

It’s common knowledge that there’s a certain probability of it appearing after Day 3 if a party of 5 or more people is exploring.

However, the 3rd-floor Floor Master is different.

The royal family and the guild have kept the summoning method a secret, and they even created a new law stating that those who summon it without prior notice will be severely punished.

According to the book, it was about 150 years ago.

“The guild kept it a secret? Why?”

“Because if some crazy bastard summons it, it won’t end with just a few deaths.”

The 1st-floor Floor Master just kills the explorer who triggered it and disappears.

But the 3rd-floor Floor Master is different.

Lord of Chaos Riakis.

「Erosion begins, and all monsters within the floor disappear into chaos.」

「Creatures of Chaos awaken from their slumber.」

This guy affects the entire 3rd floor…

「Lord of Chaos Riakis begins to roam the floor.」

…and once summoned, it roams the labyrinth until it dies, causing a massacre.

And to make matters worse, even inter-floor travel is blocked.

「Portals are temporarily deactivated due to erosion.」

That means it’s impossible to even escape to other floors.

Misha’s face turns pale as I explain this to her.

“Th, then what is this? If, if it’s kept secret, why did the Floor Master appear now?!”

Ah, uh, hmm…

Should I tell her the truth or not?

I’m a bit hesitant, but the decision isn’t difficult.

“It’s probably because of us.”

It’s better to make her an accomplice in this situation.

Benefactor or whatever…

That will be more effective in keeping the secret.

“Be, because of us? I, I don’t understand…”

“We burned corpses in the fireplace at the cabin, didn’t we? That’s one of the conditions.”

I explain kindly, and the reaction comes with a slight delay.

“…Th, that was the summoning method?!! Bjorn! What the hell did you do?!”

No, I didn’t know this would happen either.

Even the book I read at the library said that almost no one knows about it.

They said the last time it was summoned was over 10 years ago?

So I thought it would be fine even if we burned three people.

‘Damn it, who would have thought someone would have burned four people first…’

Curses escape my lips at the unbelievable coincidence.

But who can I blame?

In the end, it’s my fault for not considering the worst-case scenario.

So, in that sense…

“Misha, make one promise with me.”

“Promise?”

“We must never tell anyone that we summoned the Lord of Chaos.”

It wasn’t summoned by a large clan with thorough preparations.

Countless explorers will surely die.

But if it becomes known that we were the cause…

‘They’ll make us take responsibility and pay the price somehow.’

Has she finally realized the situation?

“Us, us? What do you mean? You’re the one who burned the corpses!”

Misha draws a clear line.

She’s so flustered that her usual slurred pronunciation is perfectly clear.

I feel a bit hurt.

She said she would treat me as her benefactor and repay me until the day she dies.

Anyway, if she acts like this, I have no choice.

I have to push her a bit.

“Do you think the guild will believe that? No, even if they do, the outcome will be the same. They’ll want as many sacrifices as possible to appease their anger.”

“Ugh…”

Hmm, judging by her reaction, I don’t think I need to threaten her with dragging her down with me by giving false testimony.

“If you understand, get a grip from now on. Even dying after returning to the city requires luck.”

“…Alright. So what should we do now?”

The answer is simple.

“Let’s run.”

First, we need to get as far away from this place as possible.

I never imagined we would leave this place like this…

‘But for now, going there is the safest option.’

It’s time to leave the Witch’s Forest.

_____________________________________

The way to escape this goddamn forest is simple.

Since the status effect [Disoriented] has disappeared, we just need to follow the compass and move in one direction.

However, the problem is that the entire 3rd floor is swarming with a new type of monster.

“Bjorn! Something’s following us from behind!”

“Chaos Spirits.”

For reference, they’re unranked.

They don’t drop magic stones, and they don’t have essences.

But…

“We’ll have to deal with them.”

Chaos Spirits are aggressive monsters, and once they aggro onto you, they follow you relentlessly.

“…Can we catch them on our own?”

Misha seems anxious since it’s a monster she’s never encountered before.

Well, ignorance is like death in this place.

I also learned that through countless deaths in the game.

“Their attack power is high, but that’s all. I think they’ll disappear with one elemental attack, so don’t worry.”

“…Is that information reliable?”

“Yes, I read it in a book.”

“Alright.”

Misha seems relieved after I explain their characteristics and readjusts her spear that’s enchanted with holy water.

And she thrusts it towards the Chaos Spirit that was slowly following us.

Boom!

The Chaos Spirit explodes with a single spear strike.

Something like mucus splatters on the ground, staining it black.

「Chaos Spirit has been destroyed.」

「The location is eroded.」

If we step on that ground now, we’ll take continuous chaos damage, but there’s no need to worry about it.

It’s not like we’re hunting the Floor Master here.

It hasn’t even been a day since it was summoned.

‘Since the labyrinth will close after today, we can just ignore the erosion rate.’

It’s a positive factor, at least.

Although the Floor Master was suddenly summoned…

[00:01]

Day 15 has begun.

If we can just hold out for 24 hours, we can leave for the ci—

“Pl, please! He, help me!!”

Just as we’re about to leave…

An explorer runs towards us from afar.

I don’t see any companions.

However, I’m not curious about why he’s alone.

The dozens of Chaos Spirits following him explain his situation.

“Bjo, Bjorn…?”

“What are you hesitating for? Run.”

I grab Misha’s wrist and run in the opposite direction of the man who is asking for help.

We’ll have to take a detour because of this, but…

What else can we do?

It’s better than having those things aggro onto us.

“Ack, aak!”

His stamina must have reached its limit.

I hear a short scream and look back to see the explorer collapsed on the ground.

“Sa, save me—!”

Damn it, we made eye contact.

“Bjo, Bjorn…?”

“Don’t look back.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

I pull Misha’s wrist and continue running, looking straight ahead.

“No! Don’t, don’t go!”

His desperate scream is drowned out by the wind whistling past my ears.

I mutter briefly, as if reminding myself,

“Harden your heart. Do you think that guy would have helped us if we were in the opposite situation?”

“But…! It’s not like it’s our fault that the 3rd floor turned out like this!”

Hmm, she has a point.

‘Damn it…’

I feel shitty.

It’s like every aspect of my character has been exposed.

But even this is just a fleeting emotion that I’ll look back on someday.

…Let’s do what needs to be done.

‘This should be enough.’

We were heading south for a while, but then we change direction and head east. I see eroded ground and explorers’ corpses scattered throughout the forest.

The more I see, the more I just look ahead and run.

Boom!

As we’re blowing up the Chaos Spirits that are following us, after about an hour of moving…

The forest ends.

And a wide-open plain comes into view.

‘I thought it would take at least 7 hours…’

Was the place we were at the eastern outskirts of the forest?

We left the forest much earlier than expected.

‘We were lucky.’

We quickly cross the plain and enter the Orc Encampment.

And after some time…

“Everyone, please calm down and cooperate with the control efforts!”

As expected, the place is swarming with people.